Himalayan Striped Squirrel

About this species

Diet

Fruit, plant matter and insects

Habitat

Tropical to subtropical forest; shelters in tree holes

Range

Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam

The Himalayan striped squirrel, also called the western or Burmese striped squirrel, lives in a variety of forest from tropical to subtropical across Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. It is diurnal and arboreal, and feeds on fruit, other plant matter and insects (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is often seen in small groups and uses tree holes for shelter. The rapid uplift of the Himalayas is believed to have driven the diversification of the three main lineages of striped squirrels, through divergences between about 5.8 and 1.7 million years ago. The source opened here is very short, and Nepal's 2011 list has no matching entry, so no national status is stated.

Description: Wildlife of Nepal guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)